"Your body is the first thing any child of man ever wanted. Therefore dispose yourself to be loved, to be wanted, to be available. Be there for them with a vengeance. Be a gracious, bending woman. Incline your ear, your heart, your hands to them.... To be a Mother is to be the sacrament - the effective symbol - of place. Mothers do not make homes, they are our home." from Bed and Board, Robert Farrar Capon

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Baptism

We recently had our baby girl baptized. Thank you Lord!

The Liturgy is such a wonderful prayer. I like to read it over at times with my different children or myself in mind. Here are some excerpts.

"We pray through Thy boundless mercy that Thou will graciously behold this child, Thy servant, whom Thou has called to instruction in the faith, drive away from her all blindness of heart, break all the snares of the devil with which she is bound. Open to her, Lord, the door of Thy grace, so that she may be free of the stench of all evil lusts and serve Thee joyfully according to the sweet savor of Thy commandments in Thy church, and grow daily and come to the grace of Thy baptism. Bless her with true faith in the spirit so that by means of this saving flood all that has been born in her from Adam and to which she herself has added may be drowned in her and engulfed, and that she may be sundered from the unbelieving, preserved dry and secure in the holy ark of the church, serve Thy name at all times, fervent in spirit and joyful in hope, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen."

"Therefore thou miserable devil, acknowledge thy judgment and give glory to the true and living God, and give glory to his Son, Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Ghost, and depart thou unclean spirit and give room to the Holy Spirit; for God and our Lord Jesus Christ has of His goodness called this child to His holy grace and blessing, and to the fountain of baptism."

"It is your task as parents to confess with the whole Church the faith in our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in whose name this child is baptized. After this child is baptized you are at all times to remember her in your prayers, put her in mind of her Baptism, and, as much as lies within you, give her counsel and aid, that she be brought up in the true knowledge and worship of God and be taught the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer; and that, as she grows in years, you place in her hands the Holy Scriptures, bring her to the services of God's house, and provide for her further instruction in the Christian faith, that she come to the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood and thus, abiding in His baptismal grace and in communion with the Church, she may grow up to lead a Godly life to the praise and honor of Jesus Christ."

"Lord and Giver of life, look with kindness upon the father and mother of this child, and upon all our parents. Let them ever rejoice in the gift you have given them. Enable them to be teachers and examples of righteousness for their children. Strengthen them in their own Baptism so that they may share eternally with their children the salvation you have given them through Jesus Christ, our Lord."

"Almighty God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has given you the new birth of water and the Spirit and has forgiven you all your sins. May he strengthen you with His grace to life everlasting. The Lord preserve your coming in and your going out from this time forth and forevermore. Amen."

4 comments:

... so that by means of this saving flood all that has been born in her from Adam and to which she herself has added may be drowned in her and engulfed...

That line always brings great peace to my heart. Everything she's added (me) is engulfed. ENGULFED! Oh, not just covered, but massively covered! Like gone. I've got a lot to engulf so this is such a happy thought to me!